With a family of six I do not dish up in the plates. Just put all the food on the table. So they heve to help themself, and whatever they dish up for themselves they must eat it all. Hugs Marie
11877With a family of 5 kids I have taught them all to eat their vegies, if they din't, "they would get an extra spoonful of them" was the threat/promise.
All of them can cook for themselves now too.
I ask what their favourite meals are and have a list of 20 odd meals. So I cook and shop according to that. Now that they are grown they still enjoy my meals.
Tonight we are having Chicken-A-la-king for a family of 5, with carrots and peas added so all get their vegies anyway.
Hugs Bev
7875Unless someone is influenceing their tastes, there are only a few things you can do. My first rule with my daughters is never say you don't like something in front of your kids. They try to please you and can become finicky eaters by followig what others say and think. My second rule is you MUST try three spoonfuls or forkfuls, after that you do not need to finish it. Studies say it takes at least 3 tries (at different times) before you know if you really do or don't like something. My 3rd rule is DO NOT Make something special for them, you will never get them to try new things if you do!
Diane
22354I had a very tight grocery budget when my kids were growing up. They had 3 choices, whatever I made for dinner, Peanut Butter and Jelly, or nothing at all. If they asked for PB&J, they could have it after taking one bite of each new thing on their plate. This way, they learned to like different foods they otherwise wouldn't have tried. Although they did eat a lot of PB&J especially if Mac & Cheese was on the menu. Here's the irony, my grandkids won't eat PB&J, they want Mac & Cheese.
7293food was short when I grew up.. there were no snacks.. we only got our 3 meals.. if we didnt eat that, there was nothing else..my method is unless they geniunly do not like something, they will eat when there hungry.. we are a family of 6, none of us are fussy eaters, i cook one meal for everybody.
20276I always said to my kids if they dont eat it they will wear it for hair oil they always ate never had to wear it or they would and for the evening meal if not eaten it was served up for breakfast cold and if not eaten it came back at lunch. this only happened once with each one and the same for any other kids i cared for. but i have found kids raised on shop baby foods are prone to want sweet. junk If you feed a baby correctly with natural home cooked foods and not apple sauce. I mean Veg and soft fruits and as they grow still mach it but also put big pieces or whole peas in with it so the get use to the visual. It is the visual that teaches Kids first these days. What is the first thing all kids reconise as in reading it is the MC Donalds sign. as it is big and red and they see it most every where they go. Kid only become picky if you allow them to be it is called Kid controll give them choices only use 2 and 2 that you are willing to work from and if they choose 1 for 1 night tell them you choose 2 for the next night. they still think they have won if you screw your nose up and say do you really want that one.Then give in and thell them because they chose it you will just have to do it. Works all the time.
763When we adopted our children at 5,7&8 years old they were extremely picky eaters. They only ate junk food and vegetables was a no no. My tactics were:
There is 1 thing you are allowed not to like and I would provide something different to that person on that day.
I made the most wonderful afters you could think of ( I spend much more time on making afters than main meals) If you do not eat what I put on your plate You are not hungry and you do not get an after.
It worked and they ate quite decent meals.
Guess what! They are now 29, 28 and 25 and they are terrible picky eaters and only eat junk food, but they try with their children to get them to like all things they avoid!
57492I don't know! My 4 year old son was made to sit for an hour with his school dinner in front of him. He's now 32 and has never eaten an egg,vegetable,gravy or anything in a sauce. If I put a few peas on his plate, when he was young, he wouldn't eat any of the meal! So, as I say, I don't know. Jan
4131I think you've touched on an age-old question. I have a picky eating husband, son and an even worse son in law. We have one rule in my house, handed down by my mother. When food is served, you have to take one bite of each dish on the table. If you truly don't like it, then there is bread and peanut butter. BUT you cannot make a huge drama out of it, or next time it will be worse. They adapt. My son has actually found lots of things that he likes. My son in law has become a closet eater so he is conveniently full at meal time, so his sample bites are VERY small. My husband, with Alzheimer's setting in, has forgotten what he didn't like. Good luck with yours!
16264I was lucky in one way. After war years in Germany taught me to eat when it was there no matter what. The lucky part is that if I am invited somewhere I never have to fear what is being served. I have to admit that I grinch when I see the amount of food that goes into the garbage. Rule with our kids was you had to try it at least.
109762I wish I knew. The 'old folks' staying with me eat on their own and when it's pasta evening or any other food they do not like (which is often) they toss it into the waste basket in a packet then the next day he will 'work in the garden' and bury it. They think I don't know about it, haha, caught out, hugs S*
19823Mom always made at least one acceptable thing, so if you didn't like the oddball other Polish things, you could at least fill up on mashed potatoes. We didn't have the luxury of being 'picky', it was that or nothing because there really was nothing else. Now if you're talking about people with food allergies/sensitivities, work with them, or ask them to bring their own stuff to cook. I have gluten allergy, I often take my own stuff, it's just way too hard to explain to people who don't have it. But that's not picky, it's to save me from getting deathly ill. And if it's a religious/ethical issue, just go with it, ask what you can fix that's acceptable. If it's kids or grandkids, I wouldn't make a big deal of it, personally. The more you push, the more picky they'll get. In our house when we were kids, we put our own food on our own plates, the rule was "Take what you want, but eat what you take" and "you can always come back for more". Kids are indeed like cats, they won't starve, they'll eat eventually. Hugs, Marji
33451I drive my inlaws crazy because they are "old school" and picky eaters can starve. I disagree.
My youngest says he "hates everything" except Mac and Cheese (only made a certain way) but he will eat most things and he loves most foods -- once he is convinced to try it, he likes it.
It helps to remember that some people are blessed with more functioning taste buds and a better sense of smell than the rest of the people. Some children, like Autistic children, never lose the baby taste buds. As we age, we lose the young tastes and are left with fewer and only old people taste buds.
When I make something new or questionable, I also make a favorite main dish as well as the trusted side dishes. That way my youngest will try the "gross" ucky" food that looks and smells "disgusting" because to get the food he wants he must eat so many bites (without complaints) of the new food.
With the older boys, as soon as they were old enough to cook, they couldn't complain or they were volunteering themselves for dinner duty. Even the step-sons stopped complaining lol
New food is voted as added to the future menu pool or not in order to prevent complaints.
by leenova54
22 Jul 2012
Smart lady! Good ideas! Lucky for both my boys, their ladies like to cook and experiment so they eat a lot of things they never would have when they were young.
by marjialexa
22 Jul 2012
That was my parents' idea, you had to take a few bites, and if you hated it you didn't have to eat it. But then we're talking sauerkraut & neckbones, pickled pig's feet, cow tongue, duck blook soup, liver...it was the 50's, parents were Russian/Polis
by marjialexa
22 Jul 2012
That's Polish. My brother used to say, "How come we eat what other people throw away?" hee hee hee.
by rescuer
23 Jul 2012
I wouldn't be able to tell any of my family what was in the food, but they would probably eat it if they didn't know.
My pickiest eaters ate two new foods tonight. One finished it off even though he hated it. He hates to waste.
by rescuer
23 Jul 2012
My parents only let us have two veggies and one main dish we wouldn't eat. We had to eat everything on the plate. I still don't like boiled cabbage with spam
LOL
by marjialexa
24 Jul 2012
Spam was a treat, hee hee hee. Of course, my parents thought boiled cabbage was the cats' pajamas, too, maybe they wouldn't 'spoil' it with Spam, that was for sandwiches!
57620I am one of those, drives my in-laws crazy, lol! My son's girlfriend is vegan, yuck. At 58 I don't think I'll be changing much!
by marjialexa
22 Jul 2012
I have friends who are, they're healthier than anybody else I know. But I can't get along without fish, and real butter. Mostly it's vegs, though.
33579Are we discussing human or feline?:) Although, the approach may be similar! I had a motto at my table, if you complain about it, you get a double helping! I now use it with the grands, & it still works! Of course, their father has implemented this at his home too, so they were familiar with the rule! Apparently, it worked doubly well...1-It worked on him & his sister--they could not leave the table until the disliked food was mostly or 1/2 gone...& they never forgot it. 2- He considers it effective enough to use with his own babies!! My kids would not want the 2nds of the unwanted food of course, so they ate what they had, & were quiet about it! Another rule I had was everyone must try new things, even if it is only a taste. So, sometime I only put a taste on their plate. I do that now with the grands, and they are so surprised when they like it, they ask for more:>) Hope this helps:>)
19452Had to put a dimmer switch over the table so my son couldn't see the spices and try to pick them out. Our daughter used to get up and load up his fork and tell him how good it was. Got to love her for that. Then there was my dad. He said when little guy gets hungry he will eat. I would get frustrated as he would eat something one week and the next would refuse it. Our pediatrician said if they are healthy don't worry about it.
by drro
22 Jul 2012
I love this idea... a dimmer switch..I think I could use one of these with my dear husband sometimes:>)
by capoodle
22 Jul 2012
The dimmer switch worked real good during the winter when there was less daylight hours. In the summer we ate later. lol
by marjialexa
22 Jul 2012
Hee hee hee, my Mom could have used the dimmer switch, it was my Dad who didn't like spices.
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